By Tina Tidmore
After the regular service inside, church members, city officials and family members gathered around the flagpole while Boy Scout Troop 124 unfolded the flag, raised it to the top of the pole and then lowered it to half-staff.
Boy Scout Troop 124 saluted the flag on the newly dedicated flagpole in honor of deceased Staff Sgt. Michael Wesley Hosey.
Meanwhile, two trumpeters alternately played a soulful version of “Taps.”
A plaque is now permanently at the foot of the flagpole, recognizing Hosey’s military sacrifice.
“It’s an affirmation from the community that they won’t forget,” said Condi Hosey, Michael Hosey’s mother. “Especially that some from the city council were here.”
In 2011, the Clay City Council passed a proclamation, also honoring Hosey’s sacrifice. Included in the city’s proclamation is the following statement: “Whereas, the people of Clay, Alabama knew SSG Michael Wesley Hosey as a graduate of Clay-Chalkville High School who loved his family, was a man of faith and a man with a sense of humor, who always wanted to serve his country…”
According to Faith United Methodist Church Rev. Amelia Sims, who conducted the ceremony, said Hosey once posted on his Facebook page his attitude toward America: “America is not blessed with freedom. A blessing is something you didn’t have to fight for. America was blessed with citizens who are willing to sacrifice their freedom and their lives for the freedom of those who will hopefully never see that sacrifice.”
The Sept. 23 date for the dedication coincided with Hosey’s birth date
. He would have been 29 years old, had he not died in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan on Sept. 17, 2011.
He was in his fourth deployment serving in the 1st Special Forces Group when insurgents attacked his unit, using small firearms. He was a communications intelligence specialist.
